“Reflecting on my father, I found myself reflecting on his passions. His passion for the ocean, his passion for rescuing animals, his passion for helping people and his passion for spontaneous goodwill. I wanted to start this foundation because I want to share that piece of him with the world. I want to share that part of him with others. I am tremendously proud to be launching the Paul Walker Foundation on his birthday. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate my father.”
Meadow Walker, 16, wrote on September 12th on what would have been her father’s 42nd birthday.
She accompanied these announcement with a picture of her as a toddler in her father’s arms.
Paul Walker had majored in Marine Biology in community college and even had plans to pursue a career in this field, but had so many great opportunities with acting.
He worked on Pleasantville, just to get money to go towards his education, but then the offers started pouring in.
It remained a passionate part time hobby.
In 2006, he became a board member of the Billfish Foundation, which monitors fish population and ocean health around the world, and in 2010, Walker spent 11 days off the coast of Mexico catching great white sharks with a crew for National Geographic’s series “Expedition Great White.”
Paul then considered quitting acting to get back to his first love.
Dr. Michael Domeier, who he worked with on the shark expeditions, became a friend and mentor. He spoke of Paul’s conflicting emotions.
”He would call me in the middle of the night and say, “Hey, I want to quit acting. I want to go back to school. Can you help me?” And I’d talk him off the ledge and go, “Paul, that’s a really bad idea. You can have much more of an influence on these topics as a celebrity. Let’s work together. I can help you, give you talking points.”
Nice to see that his daughter will pick up his mantle.